Borderruffian
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2007
- Location
- Marshfield Missouri
Signal rockets pierced the darkness over Vicksburg, Mississippi, on February 25, 1863. Dozing Southern artillery crews sprang to life, yelling, "Ironclad approaching!" Supporting a skull-and-crossbones flag at her bow, the iron hulk protruded guns from all sides. Both paddle-wheel housings bore the taunting legend "Deluded People Cave In." Angered by the vessel's audacity, the Confederate batteries opened a blistering fire. "Never did the batteries of Vicksburg open with such a din," recalled Union Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter. "The earth fairly trembled, and shot flew thick and fast around the devoted monitor." Incredibly, the vessel simply cruised past at her leisure with no alteration in speed, nor did she bother to return fire.
On course to Vicksburg, the Confederate ram Queen of the West spotted the behemoth and swung quickly around. Her captain, James McCloskey, recalled, "Her guns were run out and her deck was cleared for action." With her steam up, Queenretreated downriver with the ironclad seemingly in pursuit. What the panic-stricken McCloskey failed to realize was that the giant Union ironclad was a giant hoax sent to prevent the salvage of a real Union ironclad, USS Indianola.
Indianola was part of a new, supposedly faster class of river ironclads constructed to bolster the sluggish river "tinclads" currently in use. Named for the city in Iowa, she possessed the shallow draft of a conventional riverboat, but with casemates of 3-inch armor plating in the bow and stern. For wide-angle firing, two powerful 11-inch Dahlgren cannons were placed on pivots in the front casemate. Two 9-inch guns were mounted in the rear. Two side paddle wheels, enclosed in iron housings, and two screw propellers beneath the stern propelled Indianola. Each paddle wheel had its own engine, enabling the vessel to turn sharply in narrow channels. The crew's quarters were virtually nonexistent, since the engines took up most of the interior space. Despite that, she could only manage a paltry 6 knots, or slower if going against the current. Anticipation, however, was great for Indianola -- so great that no journalists were allowed on board to reveal her secrets.
http://www.civilwarsignals.org/pages/spy/pages/ironcladhoax.html
On course to Vicksburg, the Confederate ram Queen of the West spotted the behemoth and swung quickly around. Her captain, James McCloskey, recalled, "Her guns were run out and her deck was cleared for action." With her steam up, Queenretreated downriver with the ironclad seemingly in pursuit. What the panic-stricken McCloskey failed to realize was that the giant Union ironclad was a giant hoax sent to prevent the salvage of a real Union ironclad, USS Indianola.
Indianola was part of a new, supposedly faster class of river ironclads constructed to bolster the sluggish river "tinclads" currently in use. Named for the city in Iowa, she possessed the shallow draft of a conventional riverboat, but with casemates of 3-inch armor plating in the bow and stern. For wide-angle firing, two powerful 11-inch Dahlgren cannons were placed on pivots in the front casemate. Two 9-inch guns were mounted in the rear. Two side paddle wheels, enclosed in iron housings, and two screw propellers beneath the stern propelled Indianola. Each paddle wheel had its own engine, enabling the vessel to turn sharply in narrow channels. The crew's quarters were virtually nonexistent, since the engines took up most of the interior space. Despite that, she could only manage a paltry 6 knots, or slower if going against the current. Anticipation, however, was great for Indianola -- so great that no journalists were allowed on board to reveal her secrets.
http://www.civilwarsignals.org/pages/spy/pages/ironcladhoax.html